


Pictures flashing before my eyes

by darkchild



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV), Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/M, I seriously don't know what I'm doing, M/M, Please Don't Hate Me, So is Rumbelle because umph, Sterek is life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-15
Updated: 2015-06-22
Packaged: 2018-03-01 14:04:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 15,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2775731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkchild/pseuds/darkchild
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Belle French can't seem to shake this awful feeling in the pit of her stomach that feels like she's forgotten something. It's on the tip of her tongue just waiting for her to figure it out but she doesn't have all of the puzzle pieces just yet. Then one day, a random stranger walks into Rumple's shop and her life changes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> *UPDATE*  
> I haven't written for this in a long time and truth be told, I don't think I'm going to ever finish it. I don't have an impulse to write at all anymore and I can't find a direction for anything I start to write much less for trying to finish this fic. Please be aware going into this fic that it will NOT be finished and that I'm sorry.

Belle was in the back of the shop, cleaning out some old boxes when she heard the bell jingle. She knew Rumple was out there so she made no move to assist the customer. She wondered if Mary Margaret needed another magical whatchamacallit to help her on her latest fight against evil. 

She was getting used to her routine. Waking up in the morning to Rumple, not in the same bed of course but in the same house, fixing breakfast together, And then driving together so that he could drop her off at the library. When she was done at the library she would walk over to the shop and help Rumple with inventory or cleaning. He always told her that she didn’t have to work after her day of dusting and stocking the library shelves but she loved helping him. She loved how everything was carefree and easy between them.

But some nights, she just feels like something is missing. She loves Rumple, with all her heart, but she gets this niggling feeling in the pit of her stomach when a certain song plays or when she smells something but can’t explain how she knows it. It’s like living through the curse all over again only she remembers everyone she should, or thinks she should.

The person in the shop hadn’t said anything yet and her curiosity was getting the better of her. She wanted to pull the curtain back to see what was happening, just a peek to know who it was. She didn’t want to think about the possibility of Rumple strangling or harming the person. She shook the thought from her mind. She knew he was getting better and he wouldn’t want to disappoint her. 

She peeks through just a tad and sees a man wearing plaid and skinny jeans. She can’t place him but she feels like she’s known him all her life. Even without seeing his face, it’s almost like she would know him anywhere, no matter what he was wearing.

She watched him stare at a wind chime with wolves on it like he knew it’s background and who it belonged to. She herself had gotten lost in the beauty of it when Rumple had first hung it up. She had become quite attached to it and whenever Rumple wasn’t around she would find herself staring at it as if it held all the questions that she had about what she couldn’t remember. It hung there, begging for her to touch it. 

The guy seemed to snap out of it and he turned around and stared at Rumple. The guy’s eyes were this brilliant shade of amber and his hair was cut short. He looked like he was about to speak but couldn’t form words to do so. The guy took a huge breath and stalked up to Gold until they were a breath apart.

“Where is Belle?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I've decided that I'm doing this. Thanks to all the people who read my first little chapter!

Belle was shocked. The stranger had not even a little fear in his eyes as he asked the Dark One the whereabouts of his beloved. "Who's asking?" Rumple finally gritted out. She knew he was being very patient with this man but it wouldn't last forever. She had become a bit of a touchy subject to Rumple because she was the only thing that he cared about. 

Without even giving it a thought, Belle stepped out from behind the curtain. The guy looked relieved as he looked at her. "Belle! I know you probably don’t remember who I am and It’s really kind of hard to explain. I’m Stiles and you just gotta trust me, just like you used to.” His hands moved while he was talking and the gesture was so familiar that it made that now familiar ache set in.

Belle had to know. The feeling that she's had feels like it's getting stronger, like he's a missing link and she's just too stupid to figure it out. "You. You say I know you from somewhere but I-I can't remember." She was so confused and it was killing her head. She felt like she had a sledgehammer beating repeatedly against her forehead, like there was someone whispering thoughts that she had long since forgotten but couldn't make sense of anyway. 

Stiles looked visibly shaken and it was rather funny to her since he had basically demanded the Dark One tell him where she was not even ten minutes ago. Belle laughed at him and she felt like she’d done it at least a million times before. She could feel something pressing, begging to be let in. She concentrated on the worried crease between the guy’s eyebrows, really focused on it, because it looked so familiar. She thought everything was familiar these days, never really having that one hundred percent knowledge in her mind about who she was or who she knew. 

She imagines pushing a block away from the passages of her mind, struggling with it until she almost has it rolled away, only to have it slam back into place at even the slightest falter of her willpower. She grappled on to Rumple’s arm, trying to reclaim some sort of idea as to who she actually was. Her life was complete. Her father was in town, her mother was dead, she had Rumple and she had her books. She repeated these facts to herself until they didn’t make sense anymore. Father: alive, Mother: dead, Rumple, and books.

Stiles looked like he was witnessing a miracle. "I-I don't understand how this is happening. Deaton said he made the potion strong enough so that you wouldn't remember anything. I was expecting to plead with you for hours on end about who I was"

“I suggest you tell me exactly what you’re doing to her, dearie, or you might not see tomorrow.” Rumple growled at him. Stiles snorted. “Please, do you honestly think you’re one of the badest people out there? I’ve seen a lot of bad people and things in my short stint of human years, but I promise you that a threat from an old man is at the bottom of my list of supernatural priorities.” Rumple smirked at him from behind the counter, still holding Belle. “That may be true, but you underestimate just how much I care for Belle. You will regret it if I find that your intentions with her are, let’s say, less than stellar.” With a wave of his hand Rumple threw him up against the door and pinned him there. “Now leave, before I kill you.”

When Rumple finally threw him on to the floor he got up calmly and dusted himself off before speaking. “She needs to know what’s happening to her and I’m sorry to say that even though I clearly see you love her a lot, you can’t help her. She has to help herself, and keeping me away from her isn’t doing her any good. I know you don’t know me but believe me, I care about her too. It’ll only get worse as time goes on, it’ll make her crazy. Time is running out for her as well as us. We need her.” He stood there for a beat after speaking like he was waiting on a repercussion but when he didn’t get any he briskly walked out the door.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally back from Universal! Had a blast while I was down there but I was so ready to come home. I've been working on this chapter on the car rides and some when I was standing in really long lines, so I hope it's pretty long. After this it's Christmas! So happy early Christmas you guys! I'm gonna be working on this in between my school projects but I'm having surgery in a few days so hopefully I can post before then! Also, there's probably a few spelling mistakes that I'll have to go back and fix so please excuse that.

The dreams started the next night. She was back in the Enchanted Forest, wandering through the trees. She was dressed in her adventure gear, brown leather pants and shirt. For a moment she stops at a stump of a tree and rests. Belle looks around at her surroundings, the green of the leaves and the light blue of the sky. Just then she hears a slight rustle of leaves. It was like the person or thing was trying to stay off of the obvious hearable leaves and branches on the forest floor. She didn’t want to take a chance of it being a wild animal or a robber and her being defenseless, so she quickly hid behind a tree. 

The sound kept getting closer and closer until a dark haired girl emerges. She too was dressed in her journey clothes with a bow and arrow strapped to her back. The girl slowly stops just shy of the middle of the pathway and does a slow roundabout until she’s come full circle again. “Belle, are you here?” she asks in a whisper.

Suddenly, it’s like Belle’s whole dream changes. She’s never been traveling alone in the woods, she had partners. She shouldn’t be scared of this girl because she’s traveling with her. “Over here.” she says as she steps out from behind the tree. The girl spins and smiles at her. “I thought you had moved on without me. I mean, I know you’re pretty good with a sword but we need to stick together. We need to find Scott before nightfall and we can’t do that if we keep separating.” 

Belle nods her head. “I agree, Allison. I was just scouting ahead to make sure we wouldn’t encounter any rough terrain.” Belle said the girl’s name so nonchalantly that she had almost forgotten that she really couldn’t remember how she knew who the girl was or who she was talking about. She was talking about Scott, her dream mind supplied the name without even a second thought. Scott was Allison’s boyfriend of three years. He had been captured by Peter Hale who was working for the Evil Queen. She didn’t quite know how she knew all of these people and when she said the names she couldn’t think of faces, but her mind apparently didn’t care. She guessed that she would just have to meet all of these people like she did with Allison to remember their faces.

“Let’s get going,” Allison said to her as she slowly started to tread lightly on the ground. “We’ll never get to the Evil Queen’s castle unless we move.” The thing Belle hated most about being in the enchanted forest was that the scenery never changed, throughout a person's whole journey in it it feels like they're just going around in a big circle. After a good long treck, they found the main road. “If I’m correct, we follow this road and stay slightly to the left.” Belle told Allison. “I don’t like this,” Allison said back to her. “Everybody can see us and we have no protection unless we dive back into the trees.” Belle shrugged. "But if we go back to the forest it will only delay us. This is the fastest way." "Fine. But at the nearest sign of trouble, we bolt." Allison told her,shrugging her bow and arrows higher up on her shoulder. 

They had been walking for four hours. They had made camp and ate whatever Allison could catch. Belle's knowledge of berries and other outdoorsy things had saved them a time or two. She never really put anything she read to good use so it was nice that she was able to contribute on their little endeavor. 

They had finally arrived at the Evil Queen's castle and it looked just as dark and as hopeless as the queen herself. They had made it directly past the first expanse of trees before catching a guards attention. "Hey," he yelled. "Come back here." 

Allison quickly pulled her bow and arrow from her back and shot two arrows in rapid succession towards the man. "Split up," She told Belle. "At least if they capture one of us the other can still save Scott." Belle nodded, unsheathing her sword from its holster. 

Allison went towards the back as Belle went for a more straightforward approach, and went for the main gate. She had been dying to work out some of her aggression since the thing with Rumple kicking her out. Sure enough, as soon as she entered she was immediately bombarded by two guards. 

She quickly raised up her sword to deflect a blow from one of the guy's spikes. With her other hand she took out her dagger that she kept sheathed in her boot. Guy number two rushed towards her and she feigned left as she sliced into his arm. He cried out in pain,dropping his weapon in the process. She held him at the point of her sword and turned towards the first attacker. "Don't come any closer, or he gets it." He just laughed at her. "You? Killing somebody? You're pretty good with a sword,sweetheart, but you don't have it in you to kill someone." He smirks at her. "I'll tell you what, if you kill him, I'll surrender myself and lead you to the boy."

Belle was taken aback. She didn't understand how he knew what they were here for. "Oh? You thought it was a secret, you coming for the boy?" the guard sneered at her. "We've know ever since the queen took him as a prisoner that you'd be coming for him. I myself would have killed him the moment I layed eyes on the boy for what he did." "He didn't do anything. He helped a little boy who was caught in the crossfire of this petty disagreement between the queen and Snow White." She told him.

At this point she was distracted, and the guy below her used that fact to knock the sword from her hands and wrestle her to the ground. "In fact, I'm going to enjoy watching Schmidt killing you just as much." He told her. The guy above her who apparently was Schmidt, stuck the blade of her own sword to her throat. Being careful of his wounded arm, he lightly pressed the blade just to the right of her neck. The tip nicked her and small droplets of blood started to pool and drip down her neck. 

She remembers that she still has her dagger in her hand. In the way she fell, she landed on her hands and Schmidt has her pinned down just so that she can't get a good grip on the dagger. She pretends to struggle to get free of the guy but she was just trying to shimmy the dagger down enough so that she could grab it. She struggles with it for a few more minutes until she finally feels it push into her hands. 

Just as she's about to bring the dagger up to gut Schmidt, an arrow flies through the air and shoots him right through the stomach. Blood spews from his wound on to her and she screams. The guy was right, she wasn't ready for this. A life is precious and she can't believe how incredibly stupid she must look for pretending she could take one. 

When she finally knocks the guy off of her, she sees Allison holding the mouthy guy at the mercy of her arrow. He turns to Belle with a smirk. "Now this one, she could kill someone. She probably already has. You should take lessons." He gets the sentence out just before Allison's arrow hits him in the throat. As the guy was falling to the ground, he smiled like he'd gotten what he'd wanted. For all they Knew, he could have. Working with the Evil Queen couldn't have been easy. 

Allison wordlessly gives her a hand up. "Thanks." Belle says, slipping her dagger back into place and picking up her sword in the process. "I think I may have found where they're keeping Scott. I've already knocked out most of the guards, but we still need to hurry." Allison told her as they creeped down the hallway. 

They pass five rooms before coming to a stop in front of a gated door that leads just below the castle. Alison tries the door. "It's locked," she says. "Maybe if you hit it with your sword." Belle steps forward to inspect it. "Hmm, I think I've seen these before. Just give me a minute." She stoops down and fiddles with the lock and established that it was nothing more than a magically enhanced piece of metal. Belle rummaged around in her bag until she finds what she's looking for. "I knew this would come in handy." She pulls out a dark purple bag and opens it just a little bit. "It's magical dust that you can only get from a certain plant. We happened to walk by one and I scooped some out. I didn't want to tell you since I was saving it for this particular reason." Allison nods along as Belle continues talking. "It should counteract any bit of magic that has been placed on objects. However, it can't counteract the queen's magic straightforwardly."

She poured some of the dust out into the palm of her hand as she stooped down again to grab the lock. Placing her mouth next to her hand, she gently blew at the dust. As it landed, the dust flew outwards in a green cloud of smoke before dispersing into the air. "Now try it." Belle says. Allison reaches for the lock with her left hand. It pops open as soon as her fingers make contact with the cool metal. "Belle, you're a genius!" Allison pulls her into a tight hug before releasing her to pick her arrow back up, transforming back into the calm and collected archer that she knew. "I don't know exactly what or who is going to be in this part of the castle, Belle, so we need to be prepared for anything." 

With that she opens the door and steps through. Belle jerks her sword out as she follows behind, expecting there to be a string of guards just waiting with pitchforks and swords alike. They made it all the way to the large room at the end of the hall without any guards so far. Belle peared through the keyhole on the big wooden door and quickly jerked on Allison's arm. "What?" Allison asked as she stooped down beside Belle to take a better look. "That's him!" she said as she jumped up. "Allison, wait," Belle hisses. "We need to make a plan. I realize that you've waited for this moment since Scott was captured, but you have to go in with a rational head or otherwise we'll all be carrying a death sentence." "Belle, I know you know how I feel but you can't just expect me to be calm when I encounter the queen or anyone else that held Scott captive. I know you had someone, and I also know you don't like to talk about him but you of all people should realize the feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when you think something bad has happened to him. Don't try to tell me you would be calm if you saw him tied to a stake." Allison all but yelled at her. Without another word she busts through the door. 

"Allison!" she hissed again. Belle stands to follow her into the room but suddenly a hand reaches out to jerk her head back. "You're not going anywhere." the attacker said as he pulled her back and into an empty room. Belle wasn't making it easy for him. She was dragging her feet and screaming until he clamped one of his hands onto her mouth. He was almost to the farest wall before she finally got her wits about her and shoved her fingers in her boot for her dagger. Finally reaching for it, she quickly stabbed it into his leg, corkscrewing it until the whole blade was in his leg. The attacker screamed out in pain, dropping her to the ground. She rolled to the side as he fell, trying to get away. She was almost too far for him to reach but he grasped onto her foot and pulled her back to him. "I saw what you and your friend did to poor Schmidt, but I'm not as stupid as him. You won't be getting away from me that easy." He grasped the handle of the blade and yanked it out of his leg. Blood spurted everywhere and he screamed for the second time. He momentarily drops her foot and she uses the chance to give him one good kick to the shin before trying to get away again.

A blood curdling scream rang out followed by "Don't touch him!" Belle knew she had to get in there. Allison was probably facing off with several guards at once and it wasn't safe. She picked herself up and hastily grabbed her dagger off the ground. "Don't even worry about your friend, she's probably dead as we speak," the attacker said to her. "You women always think it's a good idea to rescue the ones you love but you're getting ready to find that sometimes it's better to just let them die." Belle tried to ignore him as she rushed towards the door. "You know, Peter said you would be stubborn, that it would take a lot of talking to get you to see the worst in people, but I didn't believe him. However, now I see it. You see the best in those people you're trying to save but they are bad people. You think we are the bad guys but we're trying to save you from them." 

Belle couldn't take it anymore. She rushed over to him and bashed his head against the concrete wall. He tried to cluch her hands but she had already knocked him out before he could stop her. She might be opposed to killing them but she sure wasn't opposed to severely injuring them. 

Another scream rang through the hall as she rushed out of the room. "Allison," she screamed. "I'm coming!" As she busted into the room, sword drawn, she barely noticed all of the carnage that had already taken place. Scott layed on the floor, crumpled in a heap. He looked like he had been knocked unconscious. "I knew you were with her." came a smooth voice. Her stomach turned at the thought of who that voice belonged to. "Peter." she said. He had Allison held against his chest, hand over her mouth. Allison had tears streaming down her face and was trying to find purchase to knock his hand away from her mouth. "It's so nice to finally see you again," he said. "Terrible circumstances but that couldn't be helped." "Let her go!" she yelled at him. Peter scoffed. She was really getting tired of people doing that to her. "Or what? We both know that I can snap her neck before you even make a step, you know, werewolf and all." To prove his point he moved his hand away from her mouth towards her neck. He let his hand rest there, fingers flexing and eyes flashing blue. 

"Sco-Scott," Allison tried to speak. Peter turned his face against her ear. "There, there," he said. "Don't make me kill you before I'm ready. I want you to know things before you die." He turned back to Belle. "For example, all of those times Belle told all of you that I was up to no good. Or that time where she had solid evidence that I did, in fact, kill Laura but none of you believed her, they were true." Allison and Belle's eyes both widened, both shocked that he would admit to everything. "You all were too busy caught up in your love affairs and other assorted projects to realize that she was right. Poor old Peter, he lost practically all of his family so he couldn't possibly kill off one of his remaining family members. It was brilliant!" He continued. "Even that little brat Stiles couldn't figure it out, and he's been dating my nephew for five years!" 

Belle still remembered telling Stiles and not believing it when he had told her that Peter was nothing more than a creepy old guy with spilt personality disorder. She had never known how nobody else had saw it. She had believed the best of him until she saw for herself that he was a monster. But she had practice dealing with monsters. Even they could change.

"Peter," she said softly "You don't want to do this." He tightened his grip on Allison's neck. "Oh, contrar, dear. I believe I've waited to kill all of you for the longest time. I'm not going to give up right when I have you all where I want you. And then when I'm done with you three, I'll let Derek lead me to the rest of the clan." he said, teeth gleeming. Belle shook her head. "Peter," she tried again. "There are better ways to go about this. Couldn't you just poison us through our tea or slaughter us while we sleep?" His eyes flashed. "Indeed. But I'm not a coward like the people who killed my family. I want all of you to know who killed you. Especially dear little Alllison here, who's auntie Kate started it all. Blood for blood I figure." Peter shrugs.

"Nothing her family did is Allison's cross to bear, Peter. She can't help what her family did to you and your family. Just look at her! She's been dating a werewolf for three years! She had no ill will towards werewolves." Belle slowly started to edge closer as she was speaking. Peter was unpredictable and she needed to get Allison away from him as soon as possible. 

It looked like her words gave Peter pause. "Belle, I believe you're right. I never saw it like that before, which explains why I had psychotic thoughts." His grip loosened on Allison's neck and she coughed and sputered until she caught her breath again. Belle couldn't quite believe that her words were all it took for Peter to calm down. She knew he saw her moving towards him but he chose to let her do it. "Belle! Don't believe him, he's never gonna change! I should have saw it this whole time but now's my chance for making up for it." Allison looked scared. Belle moved a foot more forward, going to comfort her, but Peter made it first. "Now, now, Allison. I promise that I've seen the error in my ways. In fact, I'm going to let you three walks away and never bother you again!" He turned to look at Scott "Oh, but that won't do! Let me wake him up and you can be on your way. I'll tell the Evil Queen that you got away, it's not like she can kill me anyway since she needs me." 

He walked over and shook Scott until he awoke. "Scottie boy, it's time to way up and be on your merry way." he said. Scott looked disoriented for a minute before registering that Peter was the one above him. He started to squirm and kick as he said "If you killed Allison, so help me God! You killed her didn't you! You killed her, you son of a-" "Scott," Allison interrupts. "I'm right here. Peter says he's going to let us go. Can you stand?" 

"Let us go?" Scott sputters. "Allison, he had you by the throat before I was knocked out! How can I believe that he's letting us go?" Allison came to a stop and sat down on the side not occupied by Peter. "I know, I know, but Belle talked to him and it seems to have worked." Scott looks confused. "Belle?" He looks past Allison's shoulder to see Belle not too far behind. "I thought you were leaving." he said to her. 

That's right. She was about to leave. She was going to go find Rumple and tell him how she feels before Allison had come to her and asked for her help in getting Scott back. "Yeah," she says "But then I saw I was needed here just a little longer." Scott smiled at her. "Thank you." "Welcome." Belle says. "Now let's get you up." Allison moves to help Scott stand and Belle turns to Peter. "Thanks," she tells him. "I'm really glad that you've decided on a right choice. You looked so natural doing it too! If you ever need anything just let me know." He nods at her. She then turns to Allison. "Here, I'll help him walk. You're much more useful of a fighter than I am." Allison agreed and let her have him. "I'm going to go pick up some arrows and my bow right fast before we leave." She says. "No problem." Belle tells her as she and Scott start towards the door. 

They're about two steps away from the door when Peter speaks up. "Oh, Belle," he says. She turns to see Allison back in his arms with his hand around her throat. "You really must learn to never turn your back on a werewolf." he snarled. With that he twisted his hand, effectively snapping Allison's neck. "NOOO!" Came the unison cry of Belle and Scott alike.

"Belle! Belle!" She was being shaken. "Belle, wake up, sweetheart." It was Rumple's voice, calling her away from her bad dream. She awoke and was immediately enveloped in Rumple's arms. "It was just a bad dream, sweetheart. It was just a bad dream," he said to her as he rocked her back and forth. She didn't realize that she was crying until she started to hiccup. "W-what happened?" she asked between hiccups. Rumple wiped away her tears as he told her. "I heard you screaming things like 'no' and 'get away from her' so I ran in to help in whatever way I could."

"It was so real, Rumple." She said, crying again. "And I know you're not going to like what I'm about to say, but I don't think it was a dream. I think it was something that happened to me while we were still in the Enchanted Forest. That guy who came into your shop that day was in it and I feel as if he's trying to tell me something." Rumple immediately started to shake his head. "Belle, no. This man is dangerous and I can't protect you if he hurts you since he's protected by magic. Stronger magic than mine." It was Belle's turn to shake her head. "No, Rumple. These dreams need to stop. We need to contact him in the morning and have him over to discuss this. I can't keep sharing my head with things and people I don't even remember." He sighed heavily. "Fine. We'll call him tomorrow."


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First post of the new year and I stayed up all night writing it. Obviously my brain went crazy and I tried to make it a little bit funny.

When Rumpelstiltskin said 'call' he hadn't actually meant call. He had actually had to go through town to find this kid. He had found him sitting at Granny's and had a rather annoying conversation with him about how Belle sort of remembered some details and how they were in need of his services.

The guy had agreed to meet with them but said he was going to bring a few others that she might remember to help him. Rumpelstiltskin's hands were tied. He knew that Belle needed help but he didn't trust this Stiles. Nothing good could ever come from stronger magic than his. Honestly, he hated the fact that he couldn't help Belle. He hadn't been this helpless since before he took on his powers as the Dark One. 

An hour later Stiles bustled into his shop. The dream had really taken a lot out of Belle so she was sleeping on a cot he had laid out in the back. 

He wasn’t going to wake her but he was going to have a talk with this boy.

“Who did you bring along, dearie?” he asks Stiles. “First of all, don’t call me dearie. That’s weird dude, like really weird. Second of all, I didn’t bring them in because I didn’t want her to be overwhelmed.” Rumple’s hand tightens around the handle of his cane. “I suggest you show them to me because you certainly won’t be bringing them anywhere around her unless I approve.” he growls out. “ugh, fine. But you better not be like this the whole time because, dude, it’s getting old.” Stiles says as he backtracks out the door. Rumple follows him around the corner of his shop and stops to see five people huddled in a circle discussing in low voices. 

“Guys!” Stiles yells. “He wants to meet you before we wake Belle up.” All five turn to look at him and he resists the urge to stand straighter. “Is this….” the strawberry blond haired girl asked. “Lydia,” what looked to be the oldest male warned. She shrugged. “That’s not important now.” he says harshly. He turned back around and fixed Rumple with a pointed stare. “I’m Chris Argent.” he says, sticking his hand out. Rumple just stares at him until Chris places his hand back down. “Boyd.” the tallest guy affirms. A boy with a wide smile steps up to him. “I’m Scott.” He pointed to the muscled guy behind him. “This is Derek. From what Stiles has told me, you two should get along fine.” “Gold.” he said after a short period of staring at them all. “Ok. So….” Stiles says, clapping his hands together. “Let’s go wake her.” He starts walking back towards the shop. “Not so fast, dearie.” Rumple growls, throwing his cane out to block his path. “Dude, again with the dearie.” 

“What exactly are you?” Rumple hissed. “Well, Chris and I are human..” Stiles trails off. “And the rest of you?” he prompts. Stiles moves over to Derek’s side. Scott finally breaks the silence. “I’m a true alpha and Derek is a beta.” “Basically werewolves.” Stiles sighs. “I’m a banshee.” Lydia says with a flick of her wrist to push her hair out of her face. 

There was no way Rumple was letting them anywhere near Belle. Lydia shot forward as if she heard his thoughts. “Listen, I know you don’t know how we know Belle but I’m sure that when she remembers she’ll tell you all about us. Right now, your best bet is letting us see her because I know for a fact that once what’s coming has hit, Belle will be dead, along with the rest of this town.” He gritted his teeth. “And how do I know you’re not just lying to me?” he asked while leaning on his cane. “Dude,” Stiles interjects. “She’s a banshee, predicting death is sort of what they do. Lydia’s never been wrong and I wouldn’t ever bet against her.” Lydia blows a kiss to Stiles as she looked back over to Rumple. “C’mon, let us go and help her when it’s time.” Lydia pleads with him and he more or less gives in just so she would shut up. 

He motions for Stiles to follow him back into the shop. Belle was already awake and making tea. She looked terrible, like the massive amounts of sleeping she’d been doing hadn’t helped. She was humming a tune that he didn’t recognize. It sounded broken, like she only remembered fragments of it but wanted to hum it anyway. She turned for cups and she grabbed the chipped cup, expecting him to use it. He smiled at that, loved that after all these years that cup still holds testament to their relationship. She looked up when she heard the bell jingle, throwing him a tired smile before turning her attention to Stiles. 

“I’m glad you decided to come,” she says “I think I’m ready to remember.” Stiles blew a huge breath out before crossing the room. “Ok, well that’s progress. I can work with that.” Belle hands Stiles his cup of tea and motions for Rumple to cross the room. He crossed the room and took the chipped cup from her hands, smiling down at her as their hands touched. He leaned against the counter next to Belle and turned his attention to Stiles who was looking at them with a goofy grin on his face. “You guys are so cute.” he tells them, taking a sip of his tea. After about a minute he puts the cup onto the counter and claps his hands together. “So, tell me what happened, because this one didn’t explain at all.” He said as he pointed his thumb at Rumple. “Honestly, you’d think I’d be used to the whole speaking with as minimal words as possible thing because Derek does it, but I’m not.” Belle smiled at him. “He used to be a talker, he made a lot of jokes and he was my only source of entertainment for a long time.” She tries to explain, leaning her shoulder against his. ‘Now he’s more of a threatener than an entertainer.” 

“She had a bad dream that she thinks was real, says you had something to do with it.” Rumple says, tired of the joking. He wants this to be resolved. The smile slides off of Stiles’ face and his eyes pierce Belle with a questioning stare. “Tell me about it.” 

Belle twitched until she found a spot that was more comfortable. “Well, I was back in the Enchanted Forest and at first I thought I was on an adventure by myself.” she pauses for a second as if the words are getting hung in her throat. “But then I heard rustling and I hid because I didn’t realize that I had weapons. This dark haired girl named Allison kept calling my name and then suddenly it was like I remembered that I had been traveling with her so I stepped out.” Stiles’ face was becoming more joyous as the moments ticked by. “She said that we had to find Scott and I remembered that was her boyfriend. So we ended up in the Evil Queen’s castle where we fought a lot of soldiers and we found him. Allison had ran in as soon as she saw Scott and as I went to follow her, a soldier grabbed me from behind and I had to fight him off before I could get to her. When I got there, this man named Peter had her by the neck and I remembered him too, once I saw his face.” Here Stiles’ face took on a look of outrage. “He said he wanted to tell her some things before he killed her and proceeded to inform us that I had been right about everything. Right when I said that he killed Laura, right when I said that he was evil. Then I remembered that I told you this and none of you believed me.” She gulped in air before continuing. “Scott had been knocked out so I was the only option for getting us out alive. I pleaded with Peter, told him he didn’t have to kill her. I told him that what her aunt did doesn’t mean she deserved to die. Suddenly, it was like a switch went off in his head. He let Allison go and told us we could go, he even shook Scott awake. Allison pleaded with me not to believe him, but I saw the good in Peter, I needed to believe that I could help him. Scott asked why I was still there and I realized that I had been ready to find Rumple,” She said turning to him with a smile. “Again, as soon as he mentioned it, I remembered. As we were getting ready to leave, Scott and I had been walking towards the door when Peter called my name. I turned and Allison was back in his arms. He said that I shouldn’t have turned my back on a werewolf and he snapped Allison’s neck. Scott and I both screamed. Then I woke up to Rumple shaking me, telling me he heard me yelling and it was a bad dream.”

Stiles was silent for a long while before speaking. “So you want me to tell you if it was a dream or not.” Belle nodded. “Let me ask you something, what if I had more people that could help you remember? Would it be fine if I went and got them?” She nodded again. Stiles crossed the room and pushed the door open. “Guys, Scott first.” he said and Belle hears the sound of feet before she sees all five people pile in, a dark haired boy first. 

Belle shook as she remembered. Suddenly the reality of what happened came crashing down on her. It hadn’t been a dream, sweet and loving Allison had bared the consequences of her actions. “Scott.” She said, tears streaming down her face. He opened his arms for her and she ran into them. “I’m so sorry.” she huffed out, voice rough from her crying. “It’s all my fault, I shouldn’t have trusted Peter. I knew better and I still did it.” Scott patted her hair as she cried. She felt so guilty and she wondered why Scott was being nice to the person that killed his girlfriend. “I don’t blame you.” Scott whispered in her hair as if reading her mind. “If anything, we’re to blame because we didn’t believe you.” Belle gave him a watery smile before detaching herself to look at the rest of the people. She hoped she remembered them all. 

“Maybe you guy’s should all tell Belle your names.” Stiles said, trying to make it easier for her. “She seems to remember as long as she has your name first.” Again, Chris was the first to step up. “I’m Chris Argent.” he tells her as he watches the recognition cross her face. He quickly pulled her into a hug as he said “I don’t blame you, either, so don’t you dare apologize for something you didn’t do. You did what you thought was right and I know that Allison would never blame you for that.” Belle wrapped her arms around Chris and squeezed. He was always more of a father figure to her than what her real dad was so his words calmed her. “I missed you.” she whispered out and his arms tightened around her before letting her go. 

Boyd cautiously stepped up next. He hoped she remembered him. He stared for a couple of seconds before he looked her straight in the eye. “I’m-” ‘Boyd” Belle cuts him off. She hugged his tall frame and he wrapped his arms around her, engulfing her in the cocoon of his arms. “Bet you thought I wasn’t going to remember you. I distinctly remember that eye movement as a sign of you being scared to be forgotten.” she quipped as she pulled back just a little to look him in the eye. He felt a lump form in his throat. It was stupid of him to think that she wouldn’t remember him. Out of all of them, she paid more attention to his body language than everyone else combined. “You’re the closest thing to a brother that I’m ever gonna have.” she says, obviously knowing how he feels. He swallowed the lump down and said “Don’t ever do that to us again.” as he let her go. 

“AWW, cute.” Lydia said stepping forward. “Listen, Belle, I’m Lydia and if you don’t remember me then I’m gonna take it personally and totally tell everyone about that time at the tree.” Belle grinned at her. “Obviously I remember you, Lydia.” Belle says. “I could never forget that scream.” Belle stepped up to hug her, arms going around her sides. Lydia wanted to cry but she wasn’t going to. “Good, because I’ve been missing the lack of estrogen around her for a while now and I finally have you to dress up again, though I see you do a pretty good job at it yourself.” Lydia told her as she wiped the tears that escaped and looked down at the dress Belle was wearing. She told herself she wasn’t going to cry but she really did missed Belle. Just then Belle froze and looked Lydia in the face. “What time at the tree?” she asked skeptically. Lydia grinned through her tears and grabbed on to Belle for another hug. “There was no time at the tree. I just said that so that you would at least pretend to remember me.” Belle huffs out a laugh as she untangles herself.

At some point Stiles had moved to stand next to the muscled guy. “Use your words, Derek.” Stiles tried to say quietly, but everyone heard it. At the mention of Derek’s name, Belle knew who he was. Derek Hale, boyfriend of Stiles.Though she didn’t know if that was still going on or not. She wanted him to say his name though so she continued to wait until he finally looked at her and said ‘Derek Hale.” in a gruff voice. He looked down as he waited for confirmation that she remembered him and he looked so heartbroken. She remembered that he had been the one to approve the mission to rescue Allison and knowing Derek, he probably blamed himself all these years. She placed both of her hands on his face and lifted it so that he was looking her in the eye. “Stop that. Stop the wallowing. If Allison’s death isn’t my fault, then it isn’t your fault either.” “Thank you!” Stiles exclaimed. “Now that I’m back, there will not be any blaming yourself for anything that happened. I don’t care if I have to drag you to Granny’s every day and make you name off things that make you happy in life, because I will.” Derek’s head falls on to her shoulder and she cards her hands through his hair as he hugs her. “You’re like a brother to me, too, Derek. I want you to start acting like my brother and be happy.” Derek pulls his head back and nods. She took the nod for what it was because that was the closest he was getting to telling her he missed her. 

She turned to Stiles and said “Your boyfriend is emotionally constipated.” Stiles lets out a snort. “I know, I need a shirt that says ‘Use your words, Derek’ so he can have the reminder even when I’m not there.” She smiled before returning back to normal. “I don’t think your name is making me remember. I think I need something else.” Stiles sputtered as he said “That’s fine. That’s cool. Sometimes the most memorable is the last to be remembered.” She wanted to tell him that that didn’t make any sense but she let it be. “You could tell her a story.” Scott speaks up. “A SHORT story.” Scott emphasises. “Yeah, I can do that.” He thinks for a minute. “Actually..” He trails off, turning to Rumple. “Do you have a TV?” he asked. 

Rumple, who had been watching the whole scene with jealousy came out of the stupor he was in to go find the TV in the back. As he carries it out, he magics the tape that’s in Stiles’ hand into the VCR and presses play. He was kind of curious as to how this would make Belle remember.

The video starts out with the green of the trees. The angle switches and they see a tent. “So it’s day 47 of being in the forest.” It was Stiles’ voice. “We encountered a girl by the name of Belle who needed a place to crash a couple of days ago, and we all voted that she could stay for as long as she needed. So now it’s time for a little initiation.” He says, swinging the camera around to show his face, which looked excited. The camera then turned back to the tent as he started to move forward. “Belle?” he asked as he stood outside the tent. “Yeah?” She said. “I was wondering if you would like to come out, you’ve done nothing but read and I understood from Allison that you recently had a break up, and those suck, but you gotta come out eventually.” He heard a rustling of clothes as she prepares to get out. Stiles quickly turns the camera so they could see a bucket hung on a tree with a rope. “I’m going to pull the string and water’s going to fall on her.” He whispered. Belle emerges then, looking as beautiful as ever, Rumple thinks. “Let’s go for a walk.” he says, hiding the camera from her view. “Ladies first.” he gestured for her to go ahead. “Why, thank you.” she said. As Belle walked just a little ahead, Stiles brought the camera back out. Their almost to the branch when Derek comes on camera half wolfed out. “Stiles.” He growls. “Leave it, Derek.” Derek steps forward. ‘I’m not going to leave it. You’re not doing this.” Derek then turns to Belle. “Would you mind stepping over here while I deal with my boyfriend.” Belle seemed to look confused but she still went anyway. As soon as Belle was out of the way, Derek pounced. “Derek! NO!” Stiles screamed as Derek landed on top of Stiles, Knocking them both to the forest floor. The camera slides away and ends up on flipped over so that everything is flipped with it. “Derek, not my camera! I’m using that for the research.” He says as he struggles to get out from under Derek. “THIS is research? Don’t kid yourself, Stiles.” Stiles continues to wrestle with the weight of Derek before exclaiming “Damn it, Derek, She has to be initiated. Everyone else has been.” Derek looks down at him and laughed. “This initiation isn’t even that great, Stiles. WATER? A two year old could have came up with that.” Stiles finally goes boneless under Derek and he gets up off of him. “Just remember, this is what you were going to do to her.” Derek smirks, hand on the rope. “Wait, C’mon, Derek, we can work this out.” Stiles pleads. “Nope.” Derek says as he pulls the rope and all of the freezing water comes splashing down onto Stiles. Stiles is too boneless to even work up a really good scream so he just lays there sopping wet. Just then Boyd and Scott come back from hunting. “What happened here?” Boyd asked. Derek turns to them, a shit eating grin on his face. “Stiles thought it would be a good initiation to throw cold water on Belle, so I showed him just how uncool it was.” They both stared at Stiles and busted out in cackles of joy. “Yeah, yeah. Really funny.” Stiles said, finally getting up and picking up the camera, turning it off. 

Belle punched him in the arm. “You are such an idiot.” she said to him. “Do you remember now?” Stiles asked her. “Yeah,” she crossed her arms. “Good.” he said before turning to the rest of them. “Now that we have you back, we need to discuss about what we’re going to do about Peter.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate that I haven't been posting like I should have. I'm really sorry that I'm such a terrible author for not keeping a schedule. Thank you for sticking with me through my terrible ways and I hope to become better. Things have just been pretty hectic lately.

“What about Peter?” Belle asked. “Well, you know how after you and Scott came back and told Derek and Derek killed Peter?” “Yeah.” She said slowly. “Well, he’s not really dead. He kind of played mind games with Lydia for a while and made her bring him back to life.” Belle turned towards Lydia for some type of explanation. Lydia just shrugged her shoulders as she said “What can I say? Young Peter was smoking hot. But then it changed to nightmarish things like him threatening to kill me if I didn’t bring him back. It was all in my head and we didn’t exactly know about the banshee thing back then so you all would have thought I was crazy.”

“Anyway,” Stiles butts in. “He’s back and coming for you. Guess he figured he made a mistake letting you and Scott live long enough to make it back to camp and tell us the truth.” Belle couldn’t believe this. “Why do you need me to take care of Peter? I’m human, I have no special powers. I’m not a werewolf or a banshee and I haven’t picked up a sword in years.” 

Stiles raked his fingers through his hair and looked her in the eye before speaking. “He cursed us. We can’t kill him without dying ourselves, It has to be you.” She shook her head again. “You know how I feel about killing. Peter deserves it ten fold, but I can’t.”

“Yes, you can.” came Boyd’s immediate reply. He walked over and picked up two of the swords from their place on the wall, and throwed one to Belle. “Spar with me?” he asked, a smile on his face. 

The loud whack of Rumple’s cane on the floor startled them all as he crossed the room. “If this Peter is as dangerous as you say he is, she’s not going out there to kill him on her own. I won’t accept it.” 

Stiles held up his hands. “Just give me the benefit of the doubt here. I wouldn’t send her out there unless I knew she was ready. We can train her with her sword among other things.” Rumple seemed to visibly relax at the words, but didn’t agree.

“I would rather it be myself who faces him. Let him try and take on the Dark One.” Chris, who had been silent through the whole argument, chose that exact moment to speak up. “I don’t think she’s ready.” He leaned back against the glass showcase. “What?” came the unison cry from Boyd and Stiles. “I said, I don’t think she’s ready. Think about it. Peter knew she would be reluctant. Why do you think he made the curse so that she would be the only one to kill him? He knows she’s not ready. He’s relying on her trusting nature so that he can weasel his way out of all the wrong he’s done.”

Stiles smacked his hand against the glass. “This is ridiculous! She’s ready. Have you seen what she can do with a sword? She’s remarkable. Boyd can practice with her until she gets back in shape and after that we can train her on other things. I mean, she is trusting but that’s what makes her Belle. She can use that to her advantage.” 

“I know she’s good. I’m just saying that it’s not enough to beat Peter.” Chris said, crossing his arms. Rumple spoke. “I want to see how good she is. I want to know she can do this.”

Belle finally spoke up for herself. “You don’t think I’m good.” she stated matter of factly, turning to stare Rumple in the face. “That’s not it,” he said weakly. Belle stared at him for a long moment. “Rumplestiltskin, there is a lot of time where you didn’t see me. You don’t know anything that happened to me when I left your castle except that I was kidnapped by Regina. Don’t you dare tell me I can’t do something when I very well know I can.” She accented that statement with a sharp jab of her finger to his chest.

Rumplestiltskin’s eyes narrowed. “That’s right, dearie, I don’t know anything that happened to you. But who’s fault is that? Certainly not mine. I asked your friends here to tell me and they said you would when you remembered. You don’t seem the least bit enthused to tell me what went on so I’m stuck here without any answers, hoping that you’re safe because there is nothing I can do to help.”

“Maybe I need more than someone being worried for me. You don’t seem the least bit supportive of anything they have to say. You aren’t supportive of me.” Belle stopped to let out a breath of air. “Look, I can’t deal with this right now. I’m going to practice with Boyd and that’s it. No more discussions. That goes for all of you.” 

With that she motioned for Boyd to follow her outside. Stiles cast a pity filled look at Boyd as he walked out. “Poor guy has his work cut out for him. Anger has always made her better. At least, that’s what she always told me.” 

Rumple said nothing as he walked away. “Relationships,” Lydia said, shaking her head. “I’m glad I don’t have one.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've decided to post three chapters to make up for not writing as often as I should. This chapter and the next chapter are about the same length, but not really lengthy.

It was the third time in 2 hours that Boyd had been laid on his back. He looked over to where Belle was lounging on a bench and sighed. She should be cooled off by now. At least he hoped she was, if not for the sake of his aching body then for the sake of his wounded ego. He hadn’t missed being taken down by her. He gingerly picked himself up off the ground and walked over to her. 

Plopping down on the bench next to her he said “You know, you can’t stay mad at him forever. He’s trying to be supportive but he’s also trying to put your well being before anything else. And you know that in our world that isn’t an option. We all do things we don’t want to.” 

Belle sighed. “I know. It’s just that I don’t want to feel like our relationship hasn’t moved from where it was. I used to be a maid in his house, Boyd. He bossed me around for a living practically. I want him to see that I can make my own choices. When he kicked me out, I didn’t know where to go. I didn’t want to go home, so I started an adventure. One that lead me to you guys and your many supernatural problems. I just want him to see that you guys aren’t bad people and that you protected and helped me when he thought I was out to get him.”

“He thought you were out to get him?” Boyd scrunched his nose. “That’s why he kicked me out. I thought we were both on the same page about our feelings. One day he let me go to the market by myself. When I asked him if he was afraid that I might not come back, he said that he didn’t expect me back. I was confused. About how he had such little faith in my ability to come back. Or more like my want to come back, because I never contemplated leaving for good.”

Belle smiled at the memory of her thoughts. “As I was walking, the Evil Queen approached me about my ‘master’. She told me that if I kissed him, his curse would be broken. She left out the part about leaving him defenseless against her magic. So I skipped off back to his castle and kissed him. When he found out that I had talked to the Queen, he thought I had planned to take his power from him. He got really angry and threw me in the dungeon. When he finally let me out, he told me to leave. That I was never allowed back. And here we are.” 

“Jeez. No wonder you were so pissed at the guy.” Boyd smirked. “All of that just for a kiss? Why did it drain his magic, anyway? I’ve never heard about that.” Belle looked up at him. “True love’s kiss, the most powerful type of kiss. It can heal almost anything. It would suck away all of his magic. Sometimes, I don’t think that it would be a bad thing, him not having magic.” 

“It sounds like he’s pretty attached to it.” She shook her head. “He’s better now. He’s just worried about me.” Belle stood, grabbing her sword from the table where she left it. “Let’s go inside.” Boyd wasn’t about to argue.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My relationship feels aren't really coming out the way I want them to.

Rumplestiltskin sat at his spinning wheel. Whenever he had a problem he would come spin. Something about his moves not being methodical soothed him greatly. He would sometimes spin for hours and hours, getting lost in the spin of the wheel. 

He didn’t know how to handle Belle. She had always been strong willed, even as his maid. But she just didn’t see the amount of danger she could be in if she let herself be corralled by these people into doing this. He had lost her once, had lived through years of thinking she was dead.

When she had stumbled into his shop that night he hadn’t believed she was really there with him. Upon finding that it was Regina’s doing that he had mourned for Belle, he had set out to kill her. It was Belle who stopped him in the end. She made the here and now better and more bright with each passing day she spent with him. 

He wished she would see that he cares for her more than his own life. If someone were to take her life, it would be like taking his life as well. He had survived the first time, but if there was a second, he doesn’t think he could do it again.

He had left the others in the shop to discuss, no doubt, more ideas on how to get Belle to go along with their plan. He had no doubt that she would. She was a good person who always came through for the people she cared about, of course she was doing it. He would just have to be more supportive and try to hide his discomfort with her choice. He faintly recognized the bell jingle in his foggy mind. He hoped that they finally went home for the night. 

When soft hands grasped his shoulder, he snapped out of his stupor to see Belle. “I’m sorry.” Came her first words. “I’m sorry, too.” he said, turning around so that she was in between his legs. She placed her forehead onto his and for a moment it was his whole world. All he could see were the flecks of green in her blue eyes.

They stayed like that, time wrapped into both of them. Finally, she grabbed his hand. “Let’s go home. It’s been a long day.” He grabbed his cane as he got up to follow her, locking display cases and turning off lights as he went.

The car ride home was an easy silence and it really made Rumple realize just how much he hated fighting with Belle. When he parked the car, he got out to open her door for her. He was doing the best he could to make up for their fight.

When inside the house they quickly went about their nightly routines in a comfortable silence. They both brushed their teeth in Rumple’s two sink bathroom, smiling shyly at each other through the mirror. When they were done, Rumple extended his arm to Belle and she accepted it. He didn’t want to be away from her any more than he had to but he knew it was time for bed. At her bedroom door he turned to peck her on the forehead. “Goodnight, sweetheart.” 

Belle’s face reddened just a little but that didn’t stop her from leaning in on her tiptoes and pecking him on the mouth. “Goodnight.” She told him in a soft voice as she opened her door just wide enough for her to step in. She looked back at him before she closed it. Rumple stayed put outside her door for a few moments more before turning towards his own door and entering.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The thing about life is that sometimes it holds you hostage and won't let you write for a few months. Being a senior is hectic and waay too annoying at the moment but I just wanted you to know that I'm not giving up on this story. I WILL finish this story before College, and if you're still interested in my stories that I will no doubt be posting as one shots from now on and don't want to kill me, I would be happy to have you. I feel redundant when i always post and apologize for being a bad person and not posting so at this point, let's just all assume that life gets in the way every month and move along to the fun portion of our conversation. You know, Where I post things. I love you all for still sticking with me though!

It had been about a week and Belle was sick of training. She was sick of everyone telling her what she needed to do or how she should handle herself. Every day she thought about it, and the more she thought about it, the more mad she got. Mad at herself for trusting someone so corrupt, mad at Peter for having an insatiable thirst for bloodlust, and mad at everyone else for treating her like a child. 

She was taking a break today and no one was going to tell her she couldn’t. She crossed the room and picked up her ipod before making her way to the door to close and lock it. Stiles had handed her the ipod one day during one of her cool off periods. When they were still in the Enchanted Forest, Stiles had showed her the wonderful device and all of the music that went with it. She loved it so much that she would take it and listen to music at night until Stiles finally got fed up with it and gave her one of her own.

She hopped up on the bed and pulled a pillow from behind her before throwing it down to the foot of the bed. She put the earphones in and switched on the music while closing her eyes and lying on the pillow. Her ears were immediately bombarded by Ingrid Michaelson and she relaxed for the first time in days. 

The lyrics made her want to dance around and be a more hopeful person instead of being negative about the situation. Without another word Belle stood up with the device in her hand and started to spin and dance around the room.  
We are we are we’re gonna be alright  
We got we got we always got the fight in us  
We are we are we’re gonna live tonight like there’s no tomorrow  
Cause we’re the afterlife. 

Dancing was freeing for her spirit and mind. She hadn’t danced since Rumple had first made the deal with her father because it just hadn't felt right to give a part of herself that not even her father knew about over to a stranger. It was something she did only when she was in a real need for happiness and overexertion. 

She dipped and turned as she thought about the situation at hand. Her mind was racing and for some reason the only thing she could focus on was the wolf wind chime and how Stiles seemed to know it too that first day in Rumple’s shop. 

There went her non stressful day. She knew she couldn’t focus until she talked to Stiles about it. Sighing, she removed her headphones and moved to her dresser to dial Stiles. When he picked up she reiterated what had been flying through her head and when she was done the other end was silent. 

Finally Stiles spoke. “Deaton said that only you could know what was in it, but only when the right time came about. He said you would need magical help to open it but that what was inside HAS to be for you and you only. He seems to place a lot of faith in you and your abilities and so I’m inclined to do the same. I can meet you at the shop in ten minutes if you want to try opening it though.” Belle snorted. “You want to know what’s in there just as bad as I do. I’ll meet you in a few minutes.”

Disconnecting the call, she slipped on her heels and made her way downstairs. She was almost out the door when Rumple emerged, looking refreshed and ready to tackle the day. “Where are you off to?” he says on his way over to the kitchen. Belle smiles at him, watching how he’s extra cautious about leaving his eggs unattended since he almost burned them the day before.”To the shop. I was going to have a lazy day but I started thinking about the wind chime you have and how Stiles seemed to know it and I had to call him or I would have just worried about it all day.” Rumple was smiling at her as he flipped the egg over in the pan. “We can still have a lazy day when you get back. Miss Swan was telling me about this rather interesting show that she thought we might like. I found episodes online and we can watch them when you’re ready.” 

Belle crossed the room to press a kiss to his mouth as she smiled up at him. “I’ll hurry back, but it might be a while. We don’t actually know what the chime is, just that it’s supposedly ment for me and that only I can open it when it’s time.” Gold nodded. “If you need me, just call. I’ll be there in a matter of minutes, I don’t care if its something minor, just call.” She nodded at him as she pecked him on the mouth two more times before turning on her heels to leave. 

At the shop, Stiles was standing outside the door waiting on her when she got there. When she let them inside, she quickly plucked the chime off of its hook. When her hands grazed the hook she started to shudder like the breath had been removed from her lungs. Stiles placed his hands on hers, steadying them before she lost her grasp. “Maybe you should let me inspect it.” he told her.

She nodded and handed it over. “I don’t know what that was.” she tried to explain. “It recognizes you,” Stiles explained. “It knows that you’re the one.” Stiles pulled the chime up near his eyes to inspect the wolves further. The wolves slowly started to glimmer and release energy and Stiles had to step back, pushing it onto the counter. “You woke it up, It looks like it has been dormant all these years, working up enough energy to reveal itself as a magical item even if you weren’t ready. Which could have been terrible because we don’t even know what’s in it.” 

“Maybe I should try again. You know, see if its time?” she couldn’t explain it. Even though it had knocked the breath out of her, she still felt this pressing need to release whatever was inside. “If it was time, it would have opened the moment you set one finger on it, this is merely a glimmer letting the people around it know that the right person has touched it.” Stiles said matter of factly. Belle was amazed at all the things she was learning. “What books did you read to find all of this stuff out?” she asked with a laugh. “None. I found Deaton’s notes. The man is a genius! I guess that’s why he was assigned to us.” he said turning to stare around the room. After a moment he zeroed in on a spot just above the left corner of the room. “What are you doing?” Belle asked him. “Trying to come up with a place that this won’t be easily spotted,” He explained as he shoved the chime between two boxes. “It’s giving off so much magic that any power hungry person in town could easily track it here and take it.” He reached into his pocket and produced powder. “Cloaking powder.” he says when he sees the inquisitive look on Belle’s face. “It should be able to help mask the magic but any powerful magical being can still trace it here”

“Are you sure it will be safe enough to leave it here?” came Belle’s immediate reply. “Positive. They will look for it in a place that you would normally be in. You haven’t been in the shop for a few days while practicing.” said Stiles as he climbed down. “Now, lets get going before we draw attention.” 

Back at the house, She found Rumple on the couch and stopped to smile because it was something she never really saw. “I’m ready to watch that show now.” she says as she pulls off her heels. She walks across the floor in sock feet and plops down right beside Rumple. He moves to put his arm around her and she lets him, loving how easy it is. She turned her head to look at him only to find that he’s been looking at her. “So, what’s this show about?” “Miss Swan said something about a thing called a Tardis and a doctor. I don’t really know, but she was adamant that we watch it.” She pushed her toes underneath the couch cushion and snuggled in closer to him. “Then let’s get started.” she told him as she pushed play.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have another chapter, good fellows. Don't hate me.

It was 6:00 AM on a Tuesday. It was 6:00 AM on a Tuesday when he realized that he was a monster. 

Rumpelstiltskin had risen at his normal time, getting dressed and going about his daily rituals. On his way out he checked to see if Belle was still asleep, opening her door just a crack to make sure. She looked peaceful, like he hadn’t seen her since before all of this mess had started. He gently closed the door and left.

The stench of magic hit him before he was even in the door. He never asked what Belle and Stiles had been up to last night but he definitely could tell that Stiles must have tried to cover it up. Belle would never push herself into magic more than she has to be. He was going to see what exactly they had done.   
He focused on the magic around him, using his powers as the Dark One to lead him to the chime. He took in a deep breath, letting the magic fill his lungs, before letting it out again. He turned to his left. There was a huge surge coming from that side of the room. He waved his hand and the chime flew out from between two boxes.

“Cloaking powder?” he said aloud. This kid had to be stupid. There are no lower level magicians in Storybrooke and if he insisted on being so reckless he would no longer be teaching Belle. 

Now that he had the device in his hands, it was hard to not revert back to his old ways. He could easily suck all of the magic out of it, or take the real one for himself and replace it with a fake. Belle would never know. She would just assume that she had done something wrong and find another way to help like she always did. 

No. He would put it back and never think about it again. Without another thought Rumple waved his hand and the piece went flying back in between the boxes. He would be good. He was going to be good for Belle because he loved her and she was the most important factor to his happiness. 

He went about the day assisting the customers until closing time when Belle came waltzing in with a stack full of books. “Do you need help?” he asked as Belle almost takes out his antique piano. “Um, yeah. Please.” Rumple moved to take an armload of books from her and sat them down on a glass display case. “How did you carry all of these?” Rumple asked jokingly. He knew she could carry as many as she thought she would read. He had seen her do it many times in the dark castle when she thought he wouldn’t notice just exactly how many books she was reading rather than cleaning his home. Belle laughed and shoved her shoulder into his. “You know how I do it. I’m magical.” 

It was his turn to laugh, and laugh he did. “So that one time when you nearly brained yourself because you were trying to carry an arm full of books AND read one at the same time, It was your magic that saved you?” Belle faced him, looking up into his face. “Shh,” she whispered. “You can’t tell anyone about my magic. It’s the greatest magic in the world. In fact-” She trailed off, trying to hide the smile that was playing at the corners of her lips. “In fact, I dare say it rivals the magic of your own.” 

Rumpelstiltskin smiled. “Fancy making a bet, my dear?” Belle cocked her head. “What are the conditions?” Pointing to the books he had just laid down, he asks “Do you think you can move those with your ‘magic’?” Belle shook her head. “My magic is the healing kind. So if you’re ever hurt just call me. I can make a wicked cup of tea too, but you already know that.” Rumple took one step closer to Belle, closing the distance between them. “What if I could show you how? Using my magic of course.” 

For some reason Rumple’s voice had gone softer than a kitten's purr and Belle wasn’t inclined to say no to that. “As long as you don’t actually hurt the books. I do need to read those you know.” “Of course I won’t hurt the books, don’t be silly.” Rumple laughed. “Now, turn around.” 

Belle did as she was told and she felt Rumple follow behind her. “The trick to my magic,” he says while placing his hands on Belle’s and stretching out both of their arms. “Is that it’s effortless. You just imagine what you want and it happens.” Rumple laces their fingers together, his on the back of her hands and hers facing towards the books. “Now, imagine you want that top book to come to you but you’re simply too busy to get it yourself. What do you do?”

“You aim and think.” Belle says, moving so that she’s right in front of the stack of books. “Good. Now once you do that, you carefully pull it to you with your mind. Can you imagine that for me?” Belle nodded her head. “Ok, we should be ready.” With that Rumple does exactly what he said to do and the book comes flying at them, only to stop shy of both of their hands. He feels Belle shiver and remembers that magic must feel weird traveling through someone if they aren’t used to it. He quickly rubs his hands over hers, soothing before grabbing the book from mid air. He drops it into her outstretched hand and gives her a peck on the lips before going to catalogue inventory for the night.

She seems to have recovered when she plops down on an armchair and opens said book. “You know, even though your magic is easy, mine is still pretty great too.” Rumple looks up from his paper. “Hmm, your healing magic?” She nods at him. “Yes, its very helpful. In fact, it has helped you a lot.” Rumple snorts at this. “What did it do for me, then?” 

Getting up from the armchair, Belle made her way over to the workbench Rumple sat on. “For starters, it healed all the wounds from when you thought I was dead.” Rumple tried not to smile. “That’s love.” he says placing his hand on hers. She looks down at their hands and then back up to him. “But, isn’t true love the greatest magic of all? A healing magic that changes everything? That completes people?” Rumpelstiltskin had to agree with her. “You win.” he says, nipping her on the nose.

Later that night when he had long since kissed Belle goodnight, Rumple was still wide awake. He had been good all day and now that little voice that always gets him into trouble is whispering to him. You know where the wind chime is. You can have it, have all of its power. He rolled over onto his side. No. I love Belle. I want her to be happy and trust in me. 

In a flash he was up. He wasn’t just going to sit here and be attacked by his mind. No matter how many different ways he tried to walk he always ended near the shop. He would never go in, just get increasingly more angry at himself for not being a better man. Finally the voice reared its ugly head once more. You can have the chime AND Belle. Think about it, power and love. You would be unstoppable. The voice was making sense. He burst into the shop and flung his hand to the left, placing the chime in his hand. He used a mimicking spell and placed the decoy back where it belonged. Then he used his dark magic to let free the remnants of magic that once charmed the object. 

By the time Rumple registered what he had done, it was too late. He was pissed. Pissed at himself, at the voice, at everything. He carded his fingers through his hair as he swiveled around the room for something, anything to smash. He punched at the glass display case, glass exploding everywhere. Once every last piece was destroyed he went into the back room to pour himself some Whiskey. He looked up.

It was 6:00 AM on a Tuesday. It was 6:00 AM on a Tuesday when he realized he was a monster.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have had no interest in writing until tonight.

Belle was sitting at Granny's with her clan of merry supernatural people. She had woken up to find Rumple had already left. It was highly unusual for him to leave without her in the morning. She hoped that nothing was wrong or that he had gotten hurt and made a mental note to check on him after breakfast.

She focused on the people in front of her. Stiles is devouring pancakes like he hasn’t had any in the longest time. Scott, Isaac, Boyd, and Erica each had an entire stack for each of them. Derek sat beside her looking disgusted by the amount of food that was falling out of everyone’s mouth. “Looks like we’re the only three civilized people at this table.” she says, looking at Derek and Lydia. She laughes a little when Stiles’s head pops up to give her a glare. “You know, Derek is pretty nasty too. You should see him at home with Chinese take out. Yeah, I just ratted you out so don’t give me those hateful eyes and eat your ‘healthy’ breakfast of bacon, eggs, and tea with a side of eyebrows.” Stiles says when he sees Derek do his stealth ninja eyes. Belle let out a huge peal of laughter, throwing her head back as she laughed. She had missed the bickering and fighting more than she thought she would. Lydia just shook her head as she continued to eat her own food.

Isaac waved his hand towards Granny and managed to speak behind the wall of pancakes in his mouth. “We need some more.” Granny rolled her eyes and placed the order in. Belle looked around the diner and all eyes were on them, their faces a mixture of awe and disgust. 

Ten minutes later, Granny placed the next batch of steaming hot pancakes in front of them. “What are you?” she askes them all. Isaac spoke up first. "Are we really going to have this conversation every time we go out? Because it's getting old." Granny rolls her eyes. "I only know of one kind of person that eats as much as that and her name is Ruby." she tells them, pointing over her shoulder to Ruby who is standing behind the bar staring at them. 

Stiles brought an extra long bacon strip to his mouth as everything was unfolding. “You!” Granny said. “What are you?” Stiles smiled with the bits of bacon stuck between his teeth. “I’m human. But when you live with a pack of wolves and a scream ridden banshee, you tend to eat like one." 

“I knew it.” Turning to Belle she gave her the stink eye. “All of these years and you never told us that you knew of other wolves.” She shrugged her shoulders. “To be fair, only one of them is a born werewolf, the others have been bitten.” She turned her eyes to Lydia. “Lydia is only a banshee because the bite didn’t take with her, but it still made her into a supernatural being proving that you can create other beings from a bite.” 

Granny smiled. “Sorry to have been so rude, it just gets under my skin when I know that something's amuck but I can’t place it. Well, you know how it is.” she shrugged her shoulders. “Anyway, are you done or do you want more?”

Belle looked around the table at the slowing of putting food in mouth and shook her head no.”Thanks for putting up with us.” Derek says as he pulls out enough cash for all of the food. Belle looked on in amazement. She definitely didn’t know that Derek was that loaded. She hears a snort and looks over at Stiles’ amused smile. “Yeah, he didn’t just have a nice body.” Derek shot him a look of death and Stiles just laughed harder as he pulls Derek in by his beard and smacks a kiss onto his mouth, causing Derek to scramble backwards. “Not here.” he says, and the look he gives Stiles is full of heat. “Jesus, can you not.” came the exasperated reply from Isaac. Similar responses came from everyone else except Lydia. “What? I think it’s cute.” Scott makes a puking noise in the back of his throat and Chris laughes. “It’s a funny thing when you watch something come full circle. I remember that everyone gave you similar looks when you and my daughter made out all over every possible surface.” A snort of laughter came from Stiles. “Burn.” Lydia says as she makes a move to stand up. 

Belle turns to say goodbye to everyone and makes her way outside. The chill of the air made her thankful for the warmth of her jacket. Her mind went once again to why Rumple had left so early this morning. She walked by her dad’s flower shop and threatened to go in and see how he was. Her relationship with her father has never been an easy one. Her mother always used to say that she should treat her father with kindness because she was more like him than she realized. She often wondered what her mother had meant by that. 

She turned the corner and walked the last little bit to the shop. Belle turned her key in the door and then stepped through. Nothing looked out of place or like it had been defiled in any way. "Rumple?" She waits for a few seconds before hearing a thud, feet hitting the ground. 

Rumple pushes through the curtain, a smile on his face. "Hey." He grasps her arm as he kisses her good morning. When they break apart, she looks up at him. "You're cheery today." His smile gets bigger. He pulls her in until she's fully in his arms, head resting on his heart. Belle gave his chest a few kisses and then put her head back down. His heart was at a different rhythm than it had been and she smiles until her face hurts.

The most intimate thing about their relationship to date is all the kissing. She supposes that it does something to them both knowing that something as little as kissing was once considered taboo in their relationship. In the dark castle, the slightest touches drove her wild but nothing was more powerful than that initial kiss. She found over time, after he had kicked her out, that nothing was more vivid to her than that kiss. 

Looking up at him again, she mapped the worn eyes that she loved so much. They were old but when he smiled they reminded her of what he must have looked like as a boy. 

"Why did you leave so early this morning? You usually wake me up." She watches as his smile turns into something more like that of a kid getting caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "I went in to wake you up but you looked like you were having a good night's sleep and I didn't want to wake you." She smiled. "I kept having this dream that we were at a ledge and I wanted to jump into this big pool of water but you'd never let me. "It's too far down," you'd say. "You'll hurt yourself." And I would tell you to have a sense of adventure but you just kept insisting that I shouldn't do it."

A snort of laughter erupted from Rumple's chest. "That sounds awful. Why would you argue with me for an entire dream?" Belle shrugs. "I don't know. If it had been real life I would have probably jumped in anyway. You were always a little too weird about heights anyway, so five feet might as well be five hundred." 

"You jump, I jump, Jack." She laughes because she knows that he would never let her go by herself. She laughes harder when she pictures him coming up for air, hair all in his face.

When she quiets, she pulls herself out of his embrace. "So what's on the agenda for today?" He shrugs. "The usual. Do you have practice today?" "I think so. Boyd's supposed to be here in a little while."

Nobody comes into the shop so Rumple cleans some of his displays and Belle sits next to him, arms bumping his as she flips the pages of the latest book she's reading.

It's almost lunchtime when Boyd finally shows. He's grim as he closes the shop door. "We've got a problem." he says as he walks toward them. "What is it?" Belle asks, throwing her book aside. "There were some killings a couple of towns over. We didn't think much of it until we found out that the throats of the victim's were scratched out. We went on patrol near the town line and Derek caught his scent, which means he's been at least to the town line, we're not sure if he's been anywhere else in town since the ocean kills every smell out once you get too far into town. We put mountain ash in the surrounding woods and across the town line to try and keep him out, but that's not going to hold him for long."

"What do we do?" came Belle's reply. "Hope that he doesn't break the barrier and slaughter the town?" Boyd's face looked pained. "Essentially, yes. There's not much else we can do. Stiles called his dad and told him to get in touch with the sheriff's department for the murders." 

"I didn't expect for it to be this fast." Belle whisperes. She doesn't even know If she's ready or not. "Do you think I can do it? I mean really do it." she asked Boyd. "Honestly, if your head's on right, I think you're ready. Just don't let him get into your head. He's going to try and flip everything on you and if your head's not in the game, then it's all over." 

Belle nods. "Do you want to train today or do you need a mental day?" Boyd asks her. "We already know that I'm good in the training area. I'm more worried about my head so I think I need to work on my mental strength." Boyd nods his head, he's always understood her and knew that's what she'd need. "Just think of all bad things he's done to you and the people you love. Use that to steel your heart. And Belle, think happy thoughts about yourself. If you start worrying that you can't do this just remember that we've got you. You've got a whole pack on your side and a whole town too. Just believe in yourself." 

"Thanks." She says, making a move to hug him. "I've gotta get going." Boyd tells her. "Be safe," she tells him. "I will." came his reply as he shut the shop door on his way out.

She blows out a big ball of breath and turnes to Rumple. "I don't know how to do this." Rumple pulled her to him, situating them in an armchair with her in his lap. "Then we'll sit here until you do." She sighed again as she wraps her arms around his neck, holding herself there because it made her happy. "Happy thoughts." she says. Rumple ran a soothing hand down her back. "Happy thoughts." he agreed.


End file.
